Adopted in November last year, Hull's Local Plan spells out how the city is expected to develop in the years leading up to 2032.

The city centre, which has seen wholesale regeneration over the last half-decade or so, features prominently in the plan to improve Hull by the council.

With pavements having been relaid, a modern transport Interchange built and Beverley Gate resurrected, it could be argued that the strategy for centre going forward is one of evolution, rather than revolution - the like of which we've already witnessed.

Here we look at how the heart of the city is likely to change.

Shopping

The Local Plan says there was a link between St Stephen's opening in 2007 and a "corresponding decline" in footfall and business in places like Whitefriargate and Princes Quay.

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Well, the plan says: "A strategy for change is needed to revitalise areas with a view to attracting back permanent occupiers, particularly leading high street stores, or through changing the role of areas."

There is mention of the wholescale redevelopment of Albion Square, a £130m regeneration plan which would see new retail outlets, leisure facilities and parking all built around an enclosed courtyard in Albion Street.

The city council's vision for the Albion Square development

So it seems that big name retailers and the anticipation they create are at least a big part of the answer going forward.

With the growth of the online giants increasingly forcing the high street economy to move away from manufactured goods like toys, books and DVDs, the proportion of city centres devoted to things like food and drink is rising.

The plan says it is hoping to capitalise on the growing trend, stating: "Evidence has also identified a need for up to 9,500 sqm of net floorspace for food and drink uses by the end of the plan period across the city as a whole."

It's not that we'll all necessarily be eating and drinking more than we are in 2018, but that we'll have even more choice.

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There's another nod to last year's row over expanding Kingswood in the Plan, with a specification that if an out of town retail park was proposed it would have to be proved that it would have no "adverse impact on the city centre".

Increasing demand for hotel space

It's early days of course, but there is a sense that City of Culture year has left the sweet aftertaste those in charge promised it would.

The Banksy work on Scott Street Bridge has kept Hull's love for art very much on track in 2018, and Hull 2017 purposefully avoided a closing event in December to leave the impression that last year was just the start of something great to be continued.

With this in mind, along with exciting new exhibitions at the Ferens Art Gallery and the creation of a new £35m Hull Venue, the prediction that demand for hotel space in Hull will increase sounds about right.

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"These include large-scale events like the annual Freedom Festival, as well as attractions such as museums, The Deep aquarium, renowned arts venues, theatres and top flight sporting events. The City Plan is supporting projects including remodelling of Hull New Theatre and Ferens Art Gallery."

More office space

The picture is less pretty when it comes to vacant business units, however.

In 2015, more than a fifth of Hull's office space was unfilled. The factors behind this unflattering statistic is a belief that much of it is not fit for purpose and the age of the properties concerned: many of the empty chambers are 1970s constructions which have never been revamped.

One of the answers is to convert some of into housing, on which note...

2,500 new dwellings

This is the total number of living spaces the council want to build in the city centre before 2032.

It's an ambitious target, given that space-wise centre does not carry the sprawl of other cities. But the population is growing.

Queen Victoria Square. (Image: Jerome Ellerby)

According to the plan: "The nature of the buildings within the main shopping streets of the city centre are such that there is significant scope for residential use above ground floor level, demonstrated by such conversions at Queens House and on Whitefriargate.

"Former office accommodation is being converted to residential use."

So, a tad like the 1960s, the answer to the housing shortage is to build up, rather than across.

It's hoped that an injection of new blood into the city centre will go hand-in-hand with a booming economy, day and night, and is described as a "key objective".

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"A growing city centre population brings vitality to the centre throughout the day and evenings," the plan says.

"Housing can also be important as part of a mix of development, helping sometimes to add to the viability of schemes by raising scheme value."

All of this is subject to individual planning permission of course, and persuading developers to invest in the spots that have been earmarked. But it's a vision, which if it is realised, could ensure that the legacy of the City of Culture lives on.

First impressions, they say, count for everything, and for any visitor getting off a train at the Interchange, an instant feel-good factor is needed to help them form a positive and accurate view of Hull.